Laguna Hills Has Clear Vision of Big Victory

Every basketball team has its standout players to lead the team and win the game. But championship teams go further than that. They use everyone on the court, depending on unsung heroines as much as leaders.

Oh yeah, and some have their own psychics.

Laguna Hills senior Mary Tims couldn’t wait to show off her extrasensory perception when it came to what she thought about her team’s matchup with Brea Olinda. She suggested that the Hawks would show Brea Olinda what basketball was all about by saying, “They haven’t played real basketball until they’ve played us.”

And after the Hawks’ 40-29 victory in the Southern California Division II Regional final Saturday, Tims might want to look for a job on the psychic hotline.

“She’s a legend now,” Hawk Coach Lynn Taylor said. “We all bow down to Mary after that.”

Said Tims: “I’d never even really seen [Brea] play. I was just trying to be positive for our team. It didn’t bother me, but it bothered everyone else. I certainly wasn’t trying to give Brea motivation.”

And now it doesn’t matter, because Laguna Hills held the Ladycats, a team known for scoring more than 90 points per game, to 29 points, and Tims, who scored only one point in the game, gives credit to all her teammates.

“Points don’t matter to me,” Tims said. “It’s about winning. I am nothing more than happy. If it’s Mandy [Mayfield] or me or anyone else that does it, doesn’t matter to me. You just hope you are going to win and get another trophy.”

Mayfield was one of those unsung heroines who helped the Hawks earn another prize for their trophy case Saturday.

Mayfield replaced Tims midway through the third quarter and was responsible for much of the spark that sent Laguna Hills on a 12-0 run going into the fourth. Mayfield scored all six of her points at the beginning of the fourth quarter, as Tamara Inoue repeatedly got the ball to her at the baseline to give the Hawks a 32-18 lead.

“I guess I was the lucky one tonight,” said Mayfield, a senior. “It is always somebody different on this team. Luckily it was me tonight.”

On defense, junior Erin Larson helped shut down the Ladycats’ inside game, including Stephanie Wettlin. Wettlin, who averages 10 points and more than seven rebounds, had one point and two rebounds.

“I don’t think I did anything much,” said Larson, who finished with five rebounds and five assists. “When you look at their team all you see is how much they score. We held them off the boards and really concentrated on boxing out and getting good position. It was a tough game all around, but we really played as a whole team today.”